


In Space, No One Can Hear You Mondegreen

by MalcolmInSpace



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3892795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalcolmInSpace/pseuds/MalcolmInSpace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet moment between missions.  EDI learns a new concept, a lost friend is remembered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Space, No One Can Hear You Mondegreen

Laughter and a bass beat echoed faintly through the corridors of the Normandy. It slipped through the hum of air recyc fans and the subliminal vibrato of the superliminal drives. The lights were dimmed for the night cycle, or maybe just in deference to the incredible light show outside as light itself was bent and contorted by the Normandy’s passage.

Lots of constants were being ripped apart these days, all the sureties cast down. No one knew that better than the happy few, that band of beings aboard a living spear tip, and that is why there was a faint echo of laughter and music could be heard in even the small hours.

The door to the crew lounge whisked apart, revealing a frozen tableau of living hope cast against the deathless hate of ancient gods. Joker and Vega curled with laughter, Liara stiff-spined and flustered, embarrassed. A small constellation of glasses and ice was lain out across the table. Music, something upbeat and cheerful and timelessly pop, was reaching its coda.

“Lola!” Vega said, wiping away a tear, “C’mon in. We were just-“ He gestured eloquently to the debris of friends with drinks in the dark of night.

“Another product of EDI’s self-improvement?” Shepard asked with a wry quirk. The lightness of her tone belied the heaviness as she sank into the couch beside Liara. She settled her head on Liara’s shoulder, flame-red hair both contrast and complement to Asari blue. Lara, still burning with embarrassment, unbent and wrapped one arm around Shepard, their hands entwining. Some of the tension seemed to ease from Shepard with the contact like water equalizing between tanks; not reduced in sum, but ease to bear for the sharing.

There was a moment a peaceful silence, aside from Joker trying to hold back hiccups, before Shepard said, “So is someone going to tell me EDI’s new joke, or do I need to make it an order?”

“It was not mine,” EDI said smoothly. They had all grown so quickly accustomed to EDI’s independent platform it was sometimes disconcerting to be reminded she was still all around them, listening. “Translating song lyrics from English to Asari produced a malapropism that Jeff and Mister Vega found amusing when Doctor T’Soni asked for clarification.”

“Yeah, a propism most mal,” Vega chuckled.

“EDI,” Joker said, his tone shifting to what Garrus called ‘Explain to EDI’ when he thought neither of them could hear, “It’s called a _mondegreen_.”

“I find no record of such a word in any Alliance or Cerberus dictionary.”

“Well, trust me, it’s the word. Means a misheard lyric. Some of the more famous ones became better known than the original. Some musicians even preferred them.”

“Odd that an incorrect interpretation would override the creator’s intention in even their own eyes.”

“Well, sometimes the mondegreen became so mimetic, so the artist thought it was funny, or even that it made a political or artistic point they hadn’t originally thought of.”

“This is all very nice,” Shepard cut in, “But I still haven’t heard this.”

“It’s really not that funny, I swear.”

“You’re just obsessed with keeping secrets these days. Commander’s orders.”

Lara sighed. “Goddess, fine. In the major dialect on Thessalia, the words ‘breakers gonna break break break’ literally mean, well...” She told them.

Laughter echoed through the ship again, poking into dusty corners and stirring up the places occupied only by ghosts and memories.

After a while, when there was lull in the conversation, EDI said softly, “Commander, you asked me to remind you when we were four hours from rendezvous with the Quarian Flotilla. We are now four hours from rendezvous with the Quarian Flotilla.”

The lull became a hush, introspective and loaded. It was like the ship’s gravity had been turned up ever so slightly higher.

“Well,” said Vega, rising, “That’s my queue to get some rack time. Wanna be well-rested if I’m gonna be spending all day in a sealed suit.”

“Yeah, right,” Shepard returned with that same wry smile, “You’re just going to go do more chin-ups in the cargo bay.”

“Hell yeah. Get a sweat on, covers up that recycled air smell.” He tossed back his drink and left with an insouciant half-salute.

Joker made to follow, but lingered in the door for a long moment.

“Commander, I...” He paused, hesitant. “I wish Tali was here.” The words could have been a rebuke, loaded with images of a desperate fight on an alien station in the burning heart of the galaxy. But they weren’t, just sad and sharing regret.

“I know, Jeff,” Shepard said, her voice husky. “Me, too.”

Joker nodded and left.

Liara and Shepard sat in silence for a long time.

“I should review my data,” Liara said in the tone of someone who has no desire to move.

Shepard gripped her hand a little tighter. “No, stay. Just... stay, and watch the stars with me. Just for a little while.”

“I would watch them with you forever.”

And so they did. And maybe Shepard made a crack about embracing eternity, and maybe one last chuckle floated through decking and vents to settle beneath the humming orb of the Normandy’s heart, just for a moment on the spot where once before and never again stood a young woman with hopes for her people. And then it was gone, lost in the sound of everything ending.

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this started as light-hearted, but it's ME3 and that never lasts.


End file.
